Bitumen is a material that is commonly used for the preparation of paving and roofing materials and for coatings such as for pipes and tank liners. In the road construction and road paving industry, it is a well-practised procedure to coat aggregate material such as sand, gravel, crushed stone or mixtures thereof with hot fluid bitumen, spread the coated material as a uniform layer on a road bed or previously built road while it is still hot, and compact the uniform layer by rolling with heavy rollers to form a smooth surfaced road.
The combination of bitumen with aggregate material, such as sand, gravel, crushed stone or mixtures thereof, is referred to as “asphalt”. Bitumen, also referred to as “asphalt binder”, is usually a liquid binder comprising asphaltenes, resins and oils. It may be naturally occurring, but may also be obtained from the residues of crude oils, e.g., by fractionation or by precipitation, e.g., by means of propane, or obtained after refining processes of crude oils, such as cracking. Bitumen usually contains hydrocarbons with a high asphaltene content, e.g., 12% wt or more. The bitumen may also have undergone some further treatment, e.g. blowing, whereby bitumen components are subjected to oxidation with oxygen, e.g. air, or a chemical component, e.g. phosphoric acid.
It is known in the art that sulphur can be mixed with bitumen for applications in the road construction and road paving industry. One of the problems encountered when using sulphur in bitumen is the unwanted formation of hydrogen sulphide, resulting from hydrogenation reactions of sulphur in bitumen at high temperatures, e.g. greater than 140° C.
In view of the substantial amounts of sulphur used, especially in asphalt having high sulphur-bitumen weight ratios, e.g. as high as 1:1, hydrogen sulphide emission is a serious nuisance. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the unwanted formation and emission of hydrogen sulphide from sulphur-comprising asphalt.
One method to reduce hydrogen sulphide emission from hot cast sulphur-asphalt mixtures is described in WO2005/059016. Incorporating a hydrogen sulphide-suppressant such as ferric chloride into sulphur pellets can reduce hydrogen sulphide emissions during the manufacture of sulphur-containing asphalt. However, ferric sulphide can be difficult to handle and is liable to react with moisture in the air, so it desirable to find alternative means of reducing hydrogen sulphide emission from sulphur-asphalt mixtures.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,585 also discloses methods for reducing hydrogen sulphide emissions from hot cast sulphur-asphalt mixtures. In one example, a mixture of zinc oxide, stearic acid and diphenylguanidine (each present at 0.1 wt % based upon the weight of the mixture) is used as a suppressant. It is likely that the zinc oxide and stearic acid react to provide zinc stearate, which can function as a redox catalyst.
The inventors have now discovered that the temperature of manufacture of sulphur-containing asphalt can be lowered if an additional component is added during the manufacture of the asphalt. Lowering the temperature of mixing and/or the temperature of compaction reduces the amount of hydrogen sulphide that is released during the production of the asphalt pavement. Despite the lower mixing and/or compaction temperatures, the resulting asphalt is durable and has low water sensitivity.